EP Review: Just Kids - 'saccharine'
London duo hail in new era with debut 'saccharine'.
After answering an ad songwriter Rachel Still drew up aptly looking for "looking for a drummer to take over the world," both her and Maxie Cheer have been going about to do just that. Forming a strong friendship and an equally blistering bond on a sonic level, Just Kids are here to make you sad, make you stir and above else, make you happy.
A celebratory coming-together of their best works to date, the extended play of "saccharine" is an introspective woozy of introspection and the inevitable changing nature of life. Stunning melodies and fuzzy guitar atmospherics not too dissimilar from the likes of Phoebe Bridges and Blondshell, the seven tracks personify a feeling of being so at odds with everything around us, but still embracing it as a part-and-parcel of what is expected from us.
The EP begins with the soft perusing of 'secondhand smoke,' as Rachel reminds us in the chorus, "You think I'm dreaming, but inside my had I'm screaming like a child, watching a movie of my life," a candid commentary towards life's daily struggles.
Elsewhere, we have "paris, los angeles" a daring look-see into your own self's alienation as that fear of doubt creeps in. The emotive storytelling here is Rachel's apparent love to Wim Wenders '84 drama, "Paris, Texas" as she ponders on top of a bed of '80s guitar jangle-pop noodling. "Having gone away in 2023 to both cities mentioned [Paris, Los Angeles], I was feeling reflective; watching a lot of friends around me settle down, wondering if I was doing okay in the lane I was in. The song is me trying to comically assess whether I was having a breakdown or if I was actually right where I should be.”
This is shortly followed by the magic of "best friend", a melancholic ode to the loss of friendships that are inevitable to the passing of time, the changing of character. Rachel caught at a crossroads of remission, she recalls, "I used to call you my best friend, til we fell out at your wedding. You don't know how much has changed since then, you probably never will." Poetic and powerful, Rachel notes that, "“I wrote the song after I had to move house suddenly” guitarist/vocalist Rachel explains. “Everythingfelt really odd, and the view from my shower always made me laugh as I kept thinking I could see the moon and then would realise it was the Wood Green mall sign. It made me reflect upon a lostfriendship and how much had changed in my life that this person would never know about, but thenin return how much must’ve changed for them too.”
A draw-in of fuzzy indie-pop soundscapes perfect for looking out a rain-speckled window, Just Kids are on course for highs in the Capital - and they're just getting started. From the echoic settlement of their first with "San Jose" in 2019 to their most recent with melodic powerhouse "best friend" in this year, the pair have come on leaps and bounds. Their only ask would be to remain on this emotional train with them and embrace every stop and direction they make along the way.
With the release of the ‘Saccharine’ EP the band will also be playing a special launch show at London’s Old Blue Last on the 12th of July, aswell as beginning to write and record new material.
Words by Alex Curle
